The (not so) Secret Formula for Success!

By: Mark V Bullock, Partner / PMAwww.PracticeMarketingAdvisors.comwww.PracticingProfessionalsBLOG.comSeveral recent experiences, both personally and professionally, with my clients & othershave deeply reinforced to me what I’ve held as an accurate & authentic formula for whatit takes to be successful as a Practicing Professional. I assert it holds true regardless of the state of the economy, or almost any other forces we may encounter. In fact this (notso) secret formula seems to hold whether you are a practicing professional, a businessowner or an employee. I assert that the (not so) secret formula, as it became moreapparent to me a few years ago, is simply the following: To be successful, you only really need to:

1 - BE People Centric2 - BE Technology Literate3 - BE Branding & Marketing Focused And 4 - Do Great Work

Here’s how I distinguish these four tenets of success:

1 - People Centric:

With the possible exception of commodity purchases (ie. where youchoose to buy your paper towels), contrary to what many believe, business is rarelyconducted business to business, or business to consumer. But in fact it’s almost alwaysconducted

person to person

. We’ve all heard the phrase “nothing personal – it’s justbusiness”. I assert the opposite is true –

“it’s not just business – IT IS personal”

.People do business with, refer business to, recommend and in other ways support - otherpeople that they know, like and trust. They also frequently give special consideration forthose whom they feel supported by – personally. What do I mean by support? – I meanshowing you care, your listening of them, your encouragement and acknowledgement of them, your generosity of time & resources with them. Your willingness to help themovercome a challenge or solve a problem they are struggling with.Sales trainer & author Ken Foley states

“adults are grownup kids with A.D.D.”

notthe Attention Deficit Disorder that we typically think of – but a persons inner & unmetcraving for attention, to be heard, to be understood, to be acknowledged and valued. I’mconvinced the greatest & most powerful skill set we can develop is to take a genuineinterest in, listen to, give attention to, acknowledge, encourage, and value others. If you

make it “all about them” vs. all about you, I think you’ll find you go a lot further, a lotfaster, with a great deal less effort.

What difference have you made in someone else’s life today?2 - Technology Literate:

The Internet

just is

. The personal computer

just is

.Connectivity, cell phones, email, instant messaging, text messaging, personal Web sites,Blogs, social networking sites, online forums, etc., etc.

just are

. All of the currenttechnology we see and hear about that other people (see the first tenet) are using, beingproductive with, are leveraging to solve problems, are communicating with, and mostimportantly – are participating in and with –

simply exist

. The

question is

– are you participating with, leveraging, connecting with,communicating with & supporting others using these tools & communities? Theimperative of learning, leveraging and communicating with and through thesetechnologies is not coming around the bend, or in the future,

the imperative is – rightnow!3 - Branding & Marketing Focused:

Let’s be honest – we now know, beyond a shadowof a doubt, that no business, no organization, not even an individual can possibly hope togain the visibility, exposure, & customer mind share necessary to be successful in thelong run using “traditional” advertising. Yes I know, there are still large companies,investing massive amounts of cash into traditional advertising campaigns that doproduce “some” results. But these results have been, and continue to diminish, and willdo so into oblivion.

Traditional advertising ROI is virtually dead

.Are you still beating that dieing & almost dead horse? If so – why?

You have a choice

, achoice to develop a “Brand” for yourself and/or your business/organization using the firsttwo tenets. A brand that showcases your value & expertise,

as it applies to others.

Let me step back and clarify something here. I believe that traditional advertising isdieing/dead because it is by definition

“speaking AT people”

(essentially vomitinginformation AT people, about you and your services, whether they want it or not, andmost often at times and in ways they don’t want, and frequently resent you theadvertiser for). Indeed this is the lowest rung on the marketing ladder. The next rung up is

“speaking TO people”

(telling/sharing information that yourmarket research indicates people may want to hear & be willing to listen to) that’s a littlebetter, and often produces somewhat better results.Almost at the top now is

“speaking WITH people”.

It’s a two way

conversation

, it’sasking questions, really listening, sharing idea’s & insights. Proving you actually do careabout them, and your willingness to serve & support them (see the first tenet), showingthem the value you can be for them, and that

you value them!

In marketing it’s

respecting their choice

of what information they want, when they want it, and howthey want to receive it (see the second tenet). This gives access to the very top rung of the marketing ladder -

the Holy Grail

– havingpeople

talk “about you” to and with others

. That’s when your Personal Brand beginsto pay dividends. You just need to insure that what they are saying about you is the

value you’ve brought to them vs. how irritating your advertising is, or how unhappy theyare with what you’ve done for them, or your organizations poor customer service - whichis why you must:

4 - Do Great Work - for “Them”:

Give great advice, be generous, become know as acontributor to others, go the extra mile for “them” – whether they are paying you or not.Simply don’t give “them” (anyone) a reason to talk about you with anything butallocades. Whether they be clients, staff, associates, or even casual business associates. To validate what I’ve just shared. Look to yourself, how do you want to be spoken to, howdo you want help solving your problems & overcoming your challenges, how do you wantto receive information about products & services you’re considering?I’ll bet you’re far more willing & likely to

participate in a conversation

with, andengage with a practitioner/individual/company/organization that gets & operates withthe formula above, than one who is

carelessly & constantly speaking AT you

,without regard for you, or respect for you, or acknowledging

you – as a person.

Eitherway – you’re likely to talk about them to others and your words will have a great deal of sway to those with whom you speak – and so will theirs.

Mark V Bullock